Georgia’s “Rave Revolution” Began in Armenia and Might End in Azerbaijan

Thousands of young protesters swarmed Tbilisi’s streets as part of what they claim is their impromptu “White Noise” movement that arose in response to the authorities’ latest anti-drug raids against their city’s most popular night clubs last Friday. They allege that too many innocents were unnecessarily roughed up by police after they burst into two separate clubs and detained a total of eight drug dealers, deciding for whatever reason afterwards that their only recourse was to stage large-scale protests that unmistakably utilized typical Color Revolution tactics such as dancing and partying in the streets.

This observation hints at a level of preplanned organization that kicked into action after the controversial trigger event of the Friday night anti-drug raids gave the youth a reason to go along with this mobilization, which they claim is to press for more liberal drug legislation, something that coincidentally dovetails with one of Soros’ favorite causes. In any case, some of the protesters have now took to calling for the Prime Minister’s resignation, showing just how swiftly so-called “civil society” gatherings can turn into regime change movements regardless of the legitimacy or even logic behind their demands.

Interestingly, the “White Noise” movement arose almost immediately after the so-called “Velvet Revolution” in neighboring Armenia, suggesting a regional spillover effect of youth-driven civil society unrest. The present Georgian government, while closely allied with the West, has been warming up to more pragmatic relations with Russia over the past few years and is pressing for fugitive former leader Sakkashvili’s extradition to face justice for corruption charges, so there’s indeed a little-noticed geopolitical driver behind this newfound regime change push. Also, it can’t be overlooked that Azerbaijan might be the final target of this regional campaign.

This strategically positioned country is rich in EU-destined natural resources but has lately become a close Russian partner, something that scares the West to no end. Not only that, but it’s also a crucial transit state for the North-South Transport Corridor linking Russia to India via Iran. Any serious unrest in this country, let alone an outright regime change, might disrupt its connectivity prospects and negatively impact on the emerging Multipolar World Order, which is why the Azerbaijani authorities must prepare themselves for what might be this regional “protest” movement’s inevitable expansion inside their borders.